Associated with water-dilutable paints is a “popping” limit. To understand what is meant by the expression “popping limit”, the connections familiar to the expert with the phenomenon of popping will first be explained. Small round depressions in paint films are known among experts as craters. A special form of craters are the so-called pops which, in the case of stoving paints for example, are formed in the presence of readily volatile solvents. The solvents evaporate relatively quickly from the upper layers of the paint film on drying, so that the viscosity at the surface increases and rapidly closes them. The solvents evaporating from the lower paint layers then form bubbles which burst and cannot be closed by the paint already highly viscous at the surface. Pinholes or craters then appear in the dry film. The phenomenon of popping also occurs in water-containing paint systems. In this case, water evaporates from the surface of the paint layer accompanied by the increase in viscosity just mentioned. When the water present in lower paint layers subsequently evaporates, small bubbles are formed which, on bursting, lead to the described cratering effect (also known as popping or pinholing). In addition, small bubbles in areas near the surface can be visually unattractive even before they burst because they spoil the uniform appearance of the surface (blisters).